San Diego  A disputed rope barrier at Children’s Pool beach in La Jolla that loosely guides people to give seals space will be removed this weekend after a San Diego judge lifted a preliminary injunction Friday.

The issue of whether to keep the rope up year-round, instead of just during the seals’ pupping months, will come back before San Diego County Superior Court Judge Lisa Foster on July 15. However, Foster suggested during Friday’s hearing that the Animal Protection and Rescue League, which is suing the city, has an uphill battle in proving that the city’s Planning Commission overstepped its authority by denying a coastal development permit in December.

“The court’s job is to determine whether there’s been an abuse of discretion,” Foster said. “In this case, based on my preliminary view, there is evidence that would support the Planning Commission’s finding.”

Her ruling is the latest chapter in a long-running fight between environmentalists and animal-rights activists who want to protect the seals and those seeking greater access to the beach.

At the end of Friday’s 75-minute hearing, Foster said she based her ruling on what she believes has been the status quo at Children’s Pool — that no rope barrier is maintained during the non-pupping season. The pupping season lasts from mid-December until May.

The rope was originally scheduled to be taken down May 15.

“The court cannot make a finding that there will be irreparable harm in this case to the seals,” Foster said. “The entire history of the seals at the Children’s Pool is there hasn’t been a rope, and the seals seem to be OK.”

San Diego uses the rope to help safeguard nursing seals, who can become skittish when disturbed and abandon their pups. The city’s Planning Commission had decided that a request by various seal supporters for the rope to stay up permanently didn’t meet specific requirements for issuing a coastal development permit.

The commission’s decision came after the City Council asked the mayor last year to have the rope remain year-round. The mayor sent the request through the standard permit process, which involves the commission.

Dorota Valli, campaign manager for SealWatch San Diego, said she has little hope there will be a positive outcome for her side next month.

“Of course it’s very disappointing, because to the general public it is obvious that the Planning Commission abused its discretion by denying the ruling made by the elected officials,” she said.

Pro-access advocate Justin Schlaefli, a diver who edits a newsletter for a spearfishing club, said he was thrilled with Foster’s decision.

“We feel the rope is a legitimate impediment to access at the beach,” Schlaefli said.

During Friday’s hearing, Foster peppered pro-seal attorney Bryan Pease with questions. Pease tried to show that the Planning Commission went against the city’s intent by denying the permit, but to no avail.

“If that was the case, I would expect the council to be part of this litigation,” Foster said. “And they’re not.”

Pease went on to argue that people fighting to remove the rope frequently ignore it, so their contention that it’s an obstruction to beachgoers is a red herring.

“They want thousands of people on the beach so the seals will disperse,” he said.

Councilwoman Sherri Lightner, who represents La Jolla, said she supports the judge’s ruling and is in favor of the rope being removed when the seals are not nursing.

“During the summertime, typically the seals spend a lot more time in the water,” Lightner said. “It’s important to allow people access to the pool at that time.”

Children’s Pool was set aside in 1931 as a place for people to practice swimming in the ocean. The cove is popular with seals and their pups because it’s protected from big waves and sits close to some rich feeding areas. It is also a tourist attraction.

It is legal for people to cross the guide rope that the city lays out during pupping season, but it is against federal law to harass the seals. What exactly constitutes harassment, and at what proximity beachgoers should get to the seals, continues to be in dispute.

During the first three months of 2011, there were more than double the amount of calls to police at the cove compared with the year-earlier period, as beach-use advocates held regular gatherings on the sand steps away from the nursing seals.

During the past five years, the dispute has been fought at City Hall, the Legislature and in both federal and state courtrooms. It will continue next month.